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Senegalese EEZ - Ecology

Senegalese waters are inhabited by a wide range of marine and brackish species. According to the FAO guide of identification of fishery resources of Senegal and Gambia, fish can be divided into 72 families (brackish and marine species). According to the electronic encyclopaedia of fish (FishBase, 1999), a total of 779 fish species (including 619 marine species) have been encountered in Senegal. Depending on their spatial distribution and behaviour, the marine species are classified as coastal, demersal, semi-demersal and pelagic fish groups.
Marine mammals include whales (Balaenoptera physalus and Balaenoptera edeni), dolphin (Delphinus, Tursiops, Stenella) and manatees (Trichechus senegalensis). Other species of mammals were also reported in the Exclusive Economic Zone (porpoises, sperm whale, killer whale (orca) and monk seals).
The marine invertebrates include molluscs and crustaceans. The molluscs represent about 40 families with a hundred species of bivalves, gastropods and cephalopods. Crustaceans include fifty species of lobster, lobster, shrimp, crabs and stomatopodes. The coastal area also supports other marine invertebrates that are less studied and not extensively recorded (like several sponges, holothurians, urchins, starfish, mollusks, etc.).